Letters to the editor: Nov. 29, 2003

Letter of the Day: Road work

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Ninety minutes to drive from the intersection of Collier Boulevard and Golden Gate Boulevard to Vanderbilt Beach Road and U.S. 41. Why? Because the non-thinkers in the Collier County Planning Department have decided to tear up all of the east-west roads at the same time.

And their timing is perfect, just when there are lots of people in Naples. I dare say that these "planners" would not be employed if they were working in the private sector.

Lorenzo Miceli/Naples

The beach is for everyone

Editor, Naples Daily News:

In his letter Nov. 25, Tommy Thompson accused three of the county commissioners of taking stupid pills and disregarding a mandate of the citizens in this county by wanting to provide access to the beach in North Naples prior to renourishment of the same area. He also accused them of looking out for the developers.

If there is no public access to the beach why renourish it other than to boost the developers' price by having a well-maintained private beach and to satisfy the ego of people living in that area? I advocate a boycott of Marco Island places of business since they seem to think the public shouldn't use the beaches in that area. I did not say "their Beaches," since they do not own them.

I am glad to see these commissioners are looking out for the people of the county rather than just the special interest groups.

War bad, cookies good

Editor, Naples Daily News:

With the Iraq war foremost in the reader forum, I feel it may be a good time to share my experience with our current Washington leadership.

A friend of mine and I opposed going into Iraq when it was still in the discussion stage. We agreed to write a personal letter to President Bush, at his White House address, stating our opposition. I wrote that I was a Korean War veteran and both my sons had served as officers in the Air Force and the Marine Corps, respectively, and that I had encouraged them as a duty to their country to do so.

My friend received a form letter from the White House and asked, if I had a reply to my letter. I told him "no" and so I wrote a second letter to the President.

Some weeks passed and I then received a postcard from the White House. It was a recipe for Oatmeal Cowboy Cookies addressed to Ms. Frances Byrne and with Laura Bush's printed name at the bottom. Since there is both male and female spelling of my first name, this reply suggested to me that "I do not need to worry my pretty little head."

As we all know, the Iraq war then took place and my military advice was apparently disregarded and a mess was created. However, I did receive some benefit from my writings. The cookies were pretty good.

Give up on 2000, already

Editor, Naples Daily News:

There is an old saying that the left wing uses, "Say something enough times and soon it will be believed, whether it is true or not." Evidently, R. Livingston Moulton is trying this since he is still complaining about the last presidential election from three years ago.

Al Gore did not win the election and he is not the rightful president. The election was not hijacked by the right-wing Supreme Court. The only reason they were involved was because the democratic Supreme Court of Florida illegally invented some new laws after the election was over that would favor the Democratic Party. All of the illegal activity was the left wing trying to change the election results.

Perhaps Mr. Moulton overlooks the fact that most of the major newspapers, which incidentally are not Republican, got together after the election. They reviewed the entire process including counting the ballots.

Guess what, Mr. Moulton? President Bush won the election fair and square. Perhaps you should give up your crusade as it has no validity.

Rebutting union view

Editor, Naples Daily News:

In reference to recently publicized PBA attacks against Sheriff Don Hunter and the Collier County Sheriff's Office, regarding their unionization efforts of CCSO members, I am appalled!

As an 18-year-veteran of the CCSO, and having served under two administrations during my tenure, I have never been intimidated, forced to attend propaganda meetings, or threatened to have my wages and benefits taken away.

Anything said otherwise is an outright lie. I have never had personal mail seized by the sheriff, and for bulk mailings of junk mail, I wish the Post Office would refrain from delivering it as well. As for utilizing your tax dollars to inform the CCSO members of the pitfalls to unionization, yes they were, as required by law, and anything less would have been negligent on the part of the Sheriff.

As a CCSO member and a Collier County taxpayer, I have never witnessed a better steward of tax dollars than your current sheriff.

Sheriff Hunter's integrity, professionalism and dedication to agency members is unsurpassed. The sheriff wanted all members affected to be capable of making a decision based on all the facts of unionization, not just the one slanted side of the PBA.

I take personal offense to the PBA telling me I have been living in a cave, as printed in the NDN last week. I didn't know we had caves in Southwest Florida.

Oil for Israel

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Russian oil will begin flowing through an Israeli pipeline this month after a three-day meeting between Ariel Sharon and Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

About 80 percent of Russia's 126 million gallons of oil go to Europe, with about half the rest going to the Far East. The 158-mile Israel pipeline can move about 46.2 million gallons of oil a day.

In the meantime, President Bush's national security adviser has come to terms by reducing U.S. loan guarantees to Israel by $289.5 million. Overall, Israel was due to receive $9 billion in U.S. guarantees over three years.

The meat of the issue

Editor, Naples Daily News:

It's always interesting to observe how people react when one claims to be a vegetarian, particularly in a meat-eating town like Naples. No one is attempting to take the meat off of non-vegetarians' plates, nor even suggesting that the right to clog their arteries or follow the ridiculous meat fad-diets be denied. And yet, the mere word "vegetarian" makes many in the status quo bristle with suspicion and animosity. Makes one wonder why.

Could it be that deep down, they know that there are much healthier ways to eat, but they choose not to? Maybe, maybe not. Could it be that deep down, they know it's unethical to slaughter animals when they don't have to? Probably not.

Or the toll it takes on the Earth to raise cattle versus raising crops? Definitely not. It's probably just good old-fashioned intolerance, plus the discomfort of knowing that not everyone shares their world view and that some reject their diet in favor of a simpler and more sensible one. Yeah, that must be it. Now watch 'em bristle. Don't choke on the gristle

Ditch the districts

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Collier County already has dozens of "Community Development Districts" and "MSTBUs." These are all special districts and most have proved to be troublesome and unfair to the ordinary folks who subsequently buy pieces of the developers' property.

The infamous Cap d'Antibes project is within the Pelican Bay MSTBU (as are the Waterside shops). Abutting residents are caught between two gigantic developers who quietly cut complex restrictive deals long ago. Special districts are a bad idea whose time has come and gone.

I am the walrus

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Wow: a double whammy on the Nov. 26 editorial page. The editor must be a walrus!

I'm left with a question as to which came first: the editorial cartoon or your editorial about the Medicare prescription bill. Did you pull out your pocket handkerchief before or after seeing that cartoon?

A substantial number of congressmen were thinking about the future of the country instead of reelections, and this bill was on the skids. However, at 3 a.m. on Nov. 22, instead of closing the vote after the normal 15 minutes, the GOP leaders held it open for an additional three hours so that, as you called it, the White House could put pressure on some Republican hold-outs. Two were found.

Butch Otter of Idaho and Trent Franks of Arizona probably got more than their 30 pieces of silver for their screaming, "Brandy." Of course, that Mafia game only calls for holding out for three minutes, not three hours. By their losing that Brandy game, I believe they became lost souls. So, the subject of my e-mail message to them was, "For shame, for shame, you two child haters."

You said it: "The public is to blame too." Our system is even sicker than the people who want drugs for free. I say that the "straw that broke the camel's back" axiom is forgotten by our greedy population. They are so sick with greed that they don't care if that straw lands on their grandchildren's backs.

Let them know

Editor, Naples Daily News:

How do you envision Collier County in the year 2020? Do you see blue skies, green space, and Florida wildlife such as our eagles, manatees and much more?

If you wish to preserve all these God-given rights, please help us plan now. Contact your city or county officials. Let them know you want the Land Development Code and Growth Management Plan adhered to as written. Let our officials know you are watching and you care.

If you want to leave natural wildlife, green space and water access for future generations, act now. Together residents can make a difference.